Letter: GOP has no shame on Labor Day

Over the years, I have watched and participated in decades of Labor Day Parades. This is an event whose main purpose is to honor Labor and the workers that produce the goods and services for our area and our country. The parade is sponsored by Organized Labor which is responsible for many of the benefits that people, both in unionized and non-unionized companies enjoy; such as the 40-hour work week, paid holidays, paid vacation, paid healthcare, child labor laws, paid overtime…. You get the picture.

What the Lima Labor Day Parade has become is a free public relations event for political candidates and their supporters. This is not, in itself a bad thing, except when the people that take up space in a parade that is supposed to honor Labor, are the same people that do everything in their power to undercut labor and labor unions. This mainly refers to local and area GOP candidates.

If these political candidates who don’t support organized labor, and its principles, want to hold a parade for their campaigns, might I suggest they hold their own parade and do it on September 11th. This is the one day that the GOP has attempted to exploit to their political advantage since 2001. This way they can have all the attention to themselves.